Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 20, 1994 TAG: 9411210079
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
``It feels good to get our eighth win,'' UVa co-captain Mike Frederick said, ``but nothing is as significant as coming down here and beating Tech in its own back yard.''
The Cavaliers, upset by Virginia Tech last year in Charlottesville, took advantage of eight Hokies' turnovers Saturday at Lane Stadium and pulled away in the second half for a 42-23 victory before 53,157 fans.
Also on hand were scouts from the Fiesta, Gator, Peach, Carquest and Independence bowls.
``What does everybody think now?'' asked UVa fullback Charles Way, who scored two touchdowns. ``Are we legit, or what?''
If nothing else, 16th-ranked Virginia (8-2) has won two football games in November for the first time since 1991 and will play for second place in the ACC on Friday, when it hosts North Carolina State.
The 14th-ranked Hokies (8-3) clinched at least a tie for second place in the Big East when West Virginia upset Boston College 21-20, but there was no rejoicing over that news.
``It's no consolation at all,'' tight end Kevin Martin said after athletic director Dave Braine told the team that Tech would be going to a bowl. ``That's not making me feel good right now. This is not the way I wanted it to end.''
Quarterback Maurice DeShazo had talked of mounting the goalpost after a victory over Virginia in his final home game, but he was left to ponder five interceptions (six, if you count a two-point conversion pass).
``I was trying to find him so I could run over to the goalpost and sit up there with him and talk about life,'' Virginia linebacker Randy Neal said, ``but I didn't see him. He was nowhere to be found.''
Neal, who returned two interceptions for touchdowns when Virginia won 41-38 at Lane Stadium in 1992, intercepted a two-point pass in the second quarter and added another interception that counted in the fourth quarter.
Virginia defensive backs Joe Crocker and Percy Ellsworth each had two interceptions, including pickoffs from their knees on back-to-back second-quarter possessions.
``That was a tough day at the office,'' Tech coach Frank Beamer said. ``Man, eight turnovers? I saw our players do things that I never have seen in practice. It really was a strange day.''
Virginia opened the scoring with 8 minutes, 39 seconds remaining in the first quarter on the first of five Rafael Garcia field goals, then got the ball back when Tommy Edwards fumbled the ensuing kickoff. That set up another Garcia field goal of 43 yards for a 6-0 Virginia lead.
``It was bizarre,'' Frederick said. ``We don't take a defensive snap until there's less than four minutes left in the first quarter and then, after two plays, we're out of there again.''
Frederick was referring to a bad pitch from DeShazo to Dwayne Thomas that UVa linebacker Jamie Sharper recovered at the Tech 25. Four plays later, it was 12-0 after a 14-yard touchdown run by Tiki Barber.
That was with 1:39 left in the first quarter. With 14:05 remaining in the second quarter, Tech led 13-12, due in large part to Bryan Still's 74-yard kickoff return and a fumble recovery by Brandon Semones.
Kevin Brooks' fumble at the UVa 37 was the only turnover of the day for the Cavaliers, who outgained Tech 228-88 in the first half but clung to a 19-13 lead and had to kick to Tech to start the second half.
``I'm thinking that maybe we're going to need some more points,'' Virginia offensive coordinator Tom O'Brien said, ``but I'd seen the Syracuse game on TV and remembered the commentator saying that Tech started to miss tackles in the fourth quarter.
``We wanted to keep pounding on them and pounding on them and, by the fourth quarter, hopefully all those field goals would start turning into touchdowns.''
The Cavaliers completed one pass in the second half and attempted only four. Brooks, Barber and Way carried the ball 32 times for 163 yards in the second half and UVa rushed for 249 yards in the game.
Tech, on the other hand, rushed for 33 yards against a UVa defense that came into the game ranked No.1 in Division I-A against the run. The Hokies had six rushing attempts in the second half and 17 in the game, an all-time school low.
UVa led 42-16 before DeShazo tossed a 31-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Freeman on a fourth-and-10 with 2:17 left. DeShazo finished 22-of-34 for 235 yards.
DeShazo had the dubious distinction of joining Will Furrer for most interceptions yielded by a Tech quarterback, ``but I'm madder that we lost,'' he said. ``This ain't the way I wanted to go out.''
UVa did not have a quarterback sack, but put consistent pressure on DeShazo, who may have thrown earlier than he would have liked on several of the interceptions.
``This guy doesn't like to get hit at all,'' Neal said. ``He had to be thinking about us. We got close enough to him so many times that he felt the pressure.''
The loss ended an 11-game home winning streak for Tech, which had not lost at Lane Stadium since Virginia's 1992 visit. UVa had won only seven times in Blacksburg, none by more than 16 points.
``At the end of the game I was thinking, `Damn, we didn't get beat this bad by Miami,''' Tech offensive guard Chris Malone said.
It was no wonder that the Hokies gave way in the fourth quarter. Virginia had possession for nearly 40 minutes and ran 76 offensive plays to Tech's 52.
``I'm happy for the players because they had to endure the media [and] the slings and arrows of outragegous fortune,'' said UVa coach George Welsh, whose previous two teams finished 7-4 and 7-5. ``Maybe this year, we'll be remembered for November.''
see microfilm for box score
by CNB